Examining the vitamin and mineral content in each client's body to determine if there is any deficiency that may be causing him or her to self-medicate.



Virtually all health issues have a biochemical and physiological root cause and origin. Depression can be due to endocrine gland hypofunction, nutritional deficiencies, blood sugar problems, food allergies, or systemic yeast infection. Anxiety can be due to a deficiency of vitamin B1 and magnesium. Insomnia is often caused by a need for calcium, magnesium, potassium, or from hypoglycemia, thyroid, or adrenal problems. Fatigue and low energy can be due to chronic viruses, anemia, endocrine hypofunction, yeast infection, low blood sugar, chemical sensitivity, weak digestion, or poor diet. Headaches and dizziness are often linked to liver toxicity, dehydration, blood sugar problems, low thyroid function, hypertension, or food allergies. Any of the above conditions can be the direct cause of our using drugs or alcohol to cope with the feelings that arise within us from those conditions. Failure to correct those deficiencies will almost always lead to failure of treatment and later relapse.




Passages offers acupressure, acupuncture, Swedish massage, deep tissue, and Reiki (energy cleansing). The purpose of these types of bodywork is to relieve our bodies from physical pain, and to clear our fatty tissues and muscle tissues from toxins that have been left behind from our alcoholism or drug use.



Drugs and alcohol flow through our blood stream leaving behind unhealthy substances that are stored in our muscle and fatty tissues. In addition to this, our muscles have memory that can hold onto trauma and that can later cause us physical pain and even relapse. It is essential for successful treatment that we obtain release from past trauma and from the toxins that we have stored in our bodies. At Passages we use ancient and modern techniques to stimulate the three hundred sixty-one tsubos (pressure points) along the body's fourteen meridians (nerve pathways or channels through which the body's energy flows) to bring relief to our clients, improve circulation to the organs, balance energy, relieve tension, release stored toxin from the cells, and improve all bodily functions. If the toxins are not released and old trauma addressed, relapse is far more likely. We provide four one-hour bodywork sessions each week. Passages is the only residential treatment center that includes all those essential treatment components as part of our program.



Our physical fitness program includes Pilates training, yoga, weight training, cardiovascular training, hiking, core exercises, stationary biking, and stretching.



Good physical condition is essential to good health. Most of us who suffer from drug and/or alcohol abuse have let ourselves become physically deteriorated. It is a welcome change to begin to feel strong again, and it is a great self-esteem booster. We provide twice-weekly, one-on-one, hour-long sessions with our Certified Fitness Instructors in our own fully equipped gym, and three-times-a-week hour-long yoga sessions. For the more adventurous, we offer tennis and kayaking activities.



We accept only a limited number of people into our program at any one time.



It's easy to get lost in a crowd. In programs where there are sixty, seventy, eighty, or sometimes even a hundred other clients, individual treatment is not possible. At Passages, you are always important, always the focus of our attention. You will not slip through the cracks, you will not go unnoticed, you will get our full attention, and you will get what you came for: individual treatment. Passages provides the finest treatment, the most comprehensive treatment, the most sophisticated treatment available anywhere in the world. We offer more services than any other residential substance abuse treatment facility by far.



The main Passages facility is 15,500 square feet of luxury with four fireplaces we usually keep burning, a library, gourmet kitchen, bedrooms that each have their own bath, a gym, and plenty of extra space to find a quiet spot. The grounds are superbly landscaped on a beautiful bluff overlooking the serene Pacific Ocean. The north/south tennis court is first class. Our clients attest to the healing quality they feel at Passages. Additionally, due to the tremendous success of the Passages Model, we have expanded the facilities across several acres of picturesque Malibu land that overlooks the entire bay.



Being in a serene, beautiful, peaceful environment, where your dignity is maintained and where you feel peaceful and content is very important in the healing process.



Each week, nine different therapists work with each client, one-on-one. Each week, all of the therapists meet to discuss each client's progress and to plan each client's program for the following week. That level of intensive care is only available at the Passages alcohol rehab and drug treatment center.



There is a tremendous benefit in having nine different therapists, working with you once or twice that week, one-on-one, and then pooling their experiences and discussing how they can best help you achieve permanent sobriety.



Healthful, nutritious, exquisitely prepared meals by our chefs are a delight at Passages.



Getting over addiction and/or alcoholism is, at best, a tough road. Three times a day there's a wonderful break when we sit down to superb meals lovingly prepared and delightfully served. Clients are always asked if they have any favorite foods that can be prepared for them or if they have any special dietary considerations of which we should be aware. The meals are hearty, diverse, and plentiful. Food and its preparation do make a difference.



A father and son team. One or both of them are nearly always available. Chris and Pax are dedicated to maintaining the finest residential treatment program to be found anywhere in the world with the most gifted and experienced team of therapists to be found anywhere.

Pax was addicted to heroin, cocaine, and alcohol for ten years. During that time, father and son searched everywhere for help, but all they found were 12-step, group meeting facilities, whose counselors believed in the disease concept and who only offered group meetings with perhaps one individual session per week. That did not work for Pax, nor for almost all of the others in treatment with him. After all those years of fruitless searching throughout the nation for a program to cure Pax's addiction, Chris and Pax created finally their own program, which is setting the standard for effective treatment. Pax is now co-director of Passages along with his dad, and it was his idea to create Passages so others could benefit from this wonderful treatment. Pax is proof to all addicts and alcoholics that a nasty, selfish, degenerative habit can be turned into a wonderful, healing, renewal of the spirit that creates magical transformations of life.



We provide on-site detox with the medical supervision of a doctor we recommend, Madeleine Randall, MD, who is highly skilled in detox procedures. Dr. Randall is not only board certified in Western medicine, but is also recognized as a leader in the field of alternative medicine and neuropharmacology.



Addiction and alcoholism disappear when their causes are healed. If the causes remain undiscovered and untreated, substance abuse will almost certainly continue. That is the heart of it.



Nursing staff on premises twenty-four hours a day, every day.



The clients who come to Passages seeking help for addiction and/or alcoholism are suffering from a great many diverse maladies. To insure the safety of every client, we provide continual nursing care with nurses who are trained in our field of work. At Passages you and your loved one(s) are in good hands, expert hands.

At Passages you will be treated with the utmost respect and dignity. We would no more ask you to scrub a floor than would a hospital where you went for a medical problem.

We believe that it is demeaning to a person who is ill and seeking treatment to be asked to wash our floors and scrub our toilets as one is asked to do at most treatment centers. A substance abuser's self-image is already tarnished. One of our tasks is to rebuild a healthy self image in the person who comes to us for help. Requiring a client to scrub a floor or wash a toilet is attempting to force the client into the belief they he or she has done something "bad" and for which punishment is required. All addicts and alcoholics are medicating an underlying malady with drugs or alcohol. They are helping themselves in the only way they know how. Unfortunately, it is a poor way. At Passages, our goal is to discover the malady, heal it, and return the client to a life of productive sobriety.



There is a quality about Passages that words cannot convey. Nearly everyone who comes to Passages has commented that the actual experience of being here far surpassed anything they imagined from looking at our web site or from their initial conversations with us. Words like, "magical" and "unbelievable" are heard. After you have been at Passages a few days, you will most likely say what most everyone says, "This is the best thing I ever did for myself. I love it here." Even people who are forced to come to Passages by parents or loved ones almost always call the ones who did the forcing to say, "Thanks." When the new client walks in the door of Passages, the other clients who are already here welcome them and tell them that they made the right choice. No one wants to be an alcoholic or an addict: they just can't help it. When they are healed, they are always grateful.



Every client who graduates from our treatment program receives continuing care after he or she leaves Passages Addiction Cure Center.



A continuing care program is just that: a program that continues the excellent care you or your loved one received while at Passages. The program begins the first week of your stay and continues every week until you leave. Each week the program deepens as we discover more ways in which we can assist you after you leave Passages. During sessions, we provide you with options that are hand tailored to suit your situation when you return home. For example, if you want a sober coach, we’ll find one for you. If you need a sober living environment, we’ll also find that for you. If you need to enroll in a gym, we’ll set it up for you. We become thoroughly familiar with each client. If you were previously working with a therapist and want to continue with that person, we will contact the therapist, make arrangements, and give the therapist any recommendations we may have that will assist in your continuing care program. If you need therapy and do not have a previous therapist, we will locate a therapist in the desired therapy field and arrange an appointment for when you return home. We will also brief the therapist in the areas of importance.

We also have a group of recovery coaches and spiritual counselors who provide phone sessions with you to work on any potential triggers that may arise after returning home and who will assist you in achieving any goals you might have now that you are sober. For clients with busy schedules, these phone sessions are convenient and highly effective.

In your final session before leaving, we go over your individual continuing care packet. In this packet, each therapist with whom you have worked inserts his or her personal recommendations and goals for when you return home. All appointments, addresses, and contact information for your continuing care therapists and the Passages continuing care personnel are also included in this packet.

That level of care and concern for graduates cannot be found anywhere else in the world. We strive to ensure that you receive the finest care available when you are no longer at Passages Addiction Cure Center, and our clients tell us they feel as if they will always be a part of us.



A program such as the one described above can only exist where one-on-one treatment is the backbone and mainstay of the facility's program.

Our basic program is thirty days, but we will also arrange shorter or longer stays depending on your needs, or we can arrange for breaks within your treatment schedule if your situation dictates that. We also offer an extended care program if you are not yet ready to return home after you have finished with your main treatment program.

We invite you to bring your cell phone or use our telephones. You may also bring your computer, your favorite music, books, and other things you normally use when at home. We have discovered that restricting telephone use or visits from family or friends only causes stress and anxiety. As much as possible, your normal life should continue when you come into treatment. We will weave our treatment program into your life so you will not experience any stress from being out of contact with loved ones or business needs while you are here. That permits you to achieve maximum effectiveness from the program. The added benefit is that when you leave Passages you will not experience any return shock.

We have many other therapists and program components that you can view on our web site such as a program overview and a tour. I invite you to call us toll free at to talk about how we can help you or feel free to email us.

From the entire treatment team and staff of Passages, we wish you good fortune in pursuing the goal of returning to radiant health. Remember that we believe in a cure, and we believe in you.